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tv   Washington Journal  CSPAN  November 9, 2012 7:00am-9:00am EST

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take your questions about the election and the future of the republican party. at a 30 a.m. eastern, we will discuss the hispanic vote. and the washington bureau chief of ♪ host: good morning. it is friday, november 9, 2012. three days removed from winning his election. the president plans to make an address from the east room of the white house about the economy and reducing the deficit. it is a speech republicans will be watching closely coming up and to the lame-duck session. as reluctant that battle and beyond, we want to hear about your top priorities for the
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second term. how successful do you think he will be at addressing them? give us a call on the democratic 585-3880.- republicans 202-585-3881. independents 202-585-3882. a very good morning to you. a lot of discussion about the president's second term and what needs to be addressed and the near and long term. we want to hear from you, but we will point out a few headlines. this from "the wall street journal."
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also from "the washington post." the front page of the commentary section of "the washington times." also, we want to point you to the front page of the business section of "the new york times." a front-page article on the difficult decisions involving the housing market. i want to bring you to the front page of "bloomberg busines sweek." that is a picture of president
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obama perhaps what he might look like four years from now according to the folks at bloomberg. the headline of the front page story from bloomberg business week is "the next four years, holding the cards." i want to bring you a little bit from that. a second term marked by an improving economy and tact with historic tax and the entitlement reform seems well within reach. that would put obama among a select a group of presidents when the scope of his victory became clear, some liberals like him to ronald reagan. that again is "bloomberg businessweek."
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we want to bring you now to president obama himself in his victory speech on tuesday night talking a little bit about his own agenda. [video clip] >> you elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. a in the coming weeks and months, i am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. reducing our deficit, reforming our tax code, fixing the immigration system, we have more work to do. host: president of, say in on tuesday, we have more work to do. already getting comments on the facebook page. folks writing and what they would like to see. nancy writes --
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we want to hear from you. the phone lines are open. what do you want the president to address in his second term. we want to turn a little bit to the unfinished business from tuesday night and wednesday morning with lauren. thank you for joining us. can you give us an update on the outstanding races that have not been called?
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guest: sure. to live for having me. there are seven outstanding races that have not been called at this point. i think it is important noting we are only talking about house races here on the friday of the election we cannot any outstanding senate races. usually there is at least one senate race that drags on for a while. there are not any this time. the outstanding races, there are two in arizona that have yet to be called, 3 in california, 1 in north carolina, and one in florida. these have not been called because ballots are still being counted. mostly overseas and military balance, some early voting, especially in arizona. that is what is still being counted. host: are any of these expected
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to go to a recount? is it just provisional ballots and absentee ballots? guest: i think a couple will go to recounts. the closest, i believe, is in california in the seventh district. i think that will definitely be going to a recount. also in north carolina, the margin is 400 votes in a race with mike macentire. another is inlflorid awhere allen west is behind by 2400 votes. i think c-span viewers are
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familiar with him and knows he is not somebody that gives up easily. host: what would be the biggest upset from your perspective from the stresses that have not been called? guest: i think the biggest upset would be the race in arizona's second district which is where ron barber is the incumbent. host: that is the aide to former congressman gabby gifford. guest: this was her former seat. he won a special election easily over another candidate. republicans got a better candidate for the november election. she is currently ahead. her lead is narrowing. i think democrats feel pretty good about when all of the
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ballots are counted that he will end up winning. she is currently ahead by a small margin. host: give us a quick update on the louisiana race that will not be decided until december. guest: that is basically a runoff in louisiana between two members. he faces jeff landry, who is a freshmen. it is early dissemble -- early december is the runoff. we will be hearing a lot more between now and then. those runoffs are always quirky things. the turn out after the election is always a lot less. it should be interesting. host: before we let you go give us an update on the latest from florida, the presidential
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results there were 29 electoral votes are still up for grabs. guest: they are still counting absentee ballots and four counties. they happen to be four of the biggest in the state. this is 12 years after the debacle of 2000 and the recount their. thankfully, we did not need florida to know who the next president is. they have made some improvements in the last 12 years, but they still have a lot of problems if they are still counting votes. i should say that yesterday mitt romney did can see florida. we do know obama well when those 29 votes. that gives him a total of 332 electoral votes. host: thank you for joining us. always informative.
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we are taking your calls this morning on what issues he wanted the president to address in his second term perry will go to the phones. sheila is on the democratic line from alabama. caller: good morning. i would like to see the economy get better. the second issue i have a problem with is the education system. those are the two things i would like to see get better. also, if i could i would like to make a comment. the people over at fox news and this glen beck character, i was looking at those people yesterday. they were doing a lot of name- calling yesterday.
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they said that the people who voted for obama were a bunch of idiots. i would just like to say that they are doing a lot of wining now. host: let's stick to looking forward for the next four years. how confident are you on the issues you brought up that the president will be able to get some traction? caller: i think it is going to get better. during the first four years with obama, i think the republicans -- he was trying to do a lot of stuff but they kept backing him down. they would not help. i think this time around since he got office, they need to come together and work with him. host: thank you for calling. we will go now to alex from
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pennsylvania on the independent line. what are your top priorities for president obama? caller: i will speak as a rural resident of pennsylvania. i cannot speak for everyone, but i feel as a youth voter, somebody who enjoys and prides himself in rural life and our heritage and industries that the disrespect president obama has shown our region in northern pennsylvania regarding national -- natural-gas drilling shows his disregard for our local and rural economy is. and what are really the economic engines of our region. to say he is sacrificing us for a energy policy that is
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politically expedient. i hope he will keep his promise that he focuses on sustainable energy and abandon his support for -- our realtor is shutting down. we have barry farms here shut down since 2007. -- dairy farms since 2007. that is america's bread and butter literally. host: alex tweets -- one other tweet this morning from brian --
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brought up this morning that latino voters are urging obama to focus on immigration. here is a story from "the new york times."
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we will focus more on that issue and issues facing latino "ters later on in today's washington journal." we will go to the democrat line. what is the most import issue for you in the second term? caller: the most apparent issue that the news wanted to think is the fiscal cliff. it is interesting the word fiscal cliff is a cliche for "how much money is going to be taken out of the $150 million ira's of mr. romney."
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understand that the fiscal cliff was imposed by bush to keep the tax benefits for the rich in place. in a compromise, obama continued those for another year. in 2008 there were supposed to run out. nobody is talking about the compromise that he made not to actually bring the the 2008 provisions into place. we have four things we're looking at. they can lead that policy continue. some say it will increase spending cuts and will weigh heavily on growth and possibly drive the economy back into a recession. that is really the rich saying that my money is going to be cut. therefore, not going to have as many tax deductions.
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right now the rich can take 100% of their money and they can actually be duct it in the tax year leading up to 2011. -- deduct it in the tax year of 2011. it almost lost it in 2008. now, what they are concerned about is the money they have outside of the country that they made with private equity and the hedge funds, they cannot bring that money back into the country. host: thank you so much for the call this morning. let's go to the republican line. jessica is from diamond, ohio. what do you want to see the president address? caller: i went to see him address everything he did not address in his first term. i wanted to see transparency. i wanted to see him make an effort to reach across the aisle and work with republicans
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and democrats that are not as liberal as he is to make policies to grow the economy, make improvements to education and health care and all of the things that we need to get busy doing. and we need to definitely make sure to get a budget in place. he needs to understand that without having some kind of limit on his borrowing and spending the that we will fall into an economic collapse. host: on the idea of reaching across the aisle, coming off of an election that kept the status thatin washington with a split congress and the president in the white house, how likely do you think there will be efforts to reach across the aisle and
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for the bipartisanship to happen? caller:i am hoping that both will be more open to the idea of coming to compromise is for the betterment of the american people. that is their job. they need to stop being petty and stop fighting over minute details. they need to really look at what we have as our major problems. we have to start exploring the natural resources here in our country instead of relying on outside sources. we have to work on immigration and a trade. they really have to come together. if they do not, then, you know, it is like "united we stand."
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if we are not united, we will fall. host: this morning the center of the political universe during the campaign season. i want to point out, the financial times commentary this morning by phillip stevens writes and --
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we will go to joe in indiana this morning on the independence line. caller: i think we need a complete overhaul of the tax code. we do don need tax deductions for the second and third and fourth homes of people. the next thing i would like to see them do is to settle down the police state. we are turning into a police state. you have too many arrests for can of us. those that cannot distinguish
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cannabis from heroin -- there is a big difference. i get tired of listening to the morning news and the hearing of the five, six people in these small towns equipped with dogs and swat teams. i would like to see the federal government will everything back. stop the militarization of the police departments. i support normal and the other organizations. the innocence project. we have thousands of innocent people who have been convicted of murder on death row. they have released over 300 prisoners that were innocent. hardly ever do you get a prosecutor that will admit a mistake even after dna has
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proved this person did not rape this woman. it is our military has train the police departments to a point where this is no longer a country that call itself free. it is a farce. i do not support it. jury nullification has to be number one. host: we will keep taking your callstakingtweets, and facebook messages. i want to point out some other news going on yesterday. the sentencing of the shooter in the tucson shifting that almost took the life of congresswoman gifford and it did take the life of several others. here is the headline from the arizona republic. there is congresswoman gabby giffords leaving the courtroom
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with her husband. i want to take you to the story in "the casa grande dispatch." he stared silently thursday as she came face to face with a man who tried to kill her. she had not been near him since the deadly rampage outside of a meet and greet at a supermarket that killed six people and left her partially blind with a paralyzed right arm and a brain injury. you may have put a bullet through her head, but you have not put a dent in her spirit and commitment to make the world a better place. she looked closely at the 24- year-old for several minutes
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without uttering a word. he showed no emotion and his mother sobbed nearby. his guilty plea enables him to avoid a federal death sentence. we are taking your calls this morning focusing on the president's second term and the issues you would like to see addressed. "the reno gamble" writes in -- we will go to scott from baltimore, md. on the democratic line. caller: thank you. i want to say something about the president let in all of the
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money go to different things that we do not need to put money to. we are supposed to be a country in debt. what are we doing? what can we not get the money back from the banks that we let them? why can we not get the money back from the car dealerships that we let them borrow to get out of debt? why can we now work out some kind of deal where we are not going to lend any more money? we do not have the money to lend. there are different programs we need to take care of. our health care. i am on disability. i have a hard time -- i am on fixed income. when it comes down to medicare, i have a hard time getting medicare because i need medicine to take care of my life. there are a lot of people on disability that are older than i am that need this medicare. even people that our senior
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citizens that are 90 years old, they are on a fixed income and they only get $500 a month. they are as -- are thinking about cutting it down. you have to figure out what people are living with. my rent went up. other people's rents went up. gas, electric, and food costs. we are on a fixed income. we have to go out and buy food that we cannot afford. if we are on a regimen from the doctors that we cannot eat regular food and we have to eat some kind of vegetables or something like that and the prices are high, how can we afford it all for $50 a month on food stamps or checks every month? host: i want to take you to a
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video released by the obama campaign on thursday. this is president obama getting emotional and thanking the people who worked with him. [video clip] >> you uys that have worked -- i'm really proud of that. i'm proud of you. [applause] what you guys accomplished belongs in the annals of history. people read about it then marvel about it. the most important thing you know -- you need to know is --
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what evergood we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys and accomplishing for years and years to come. host: we are talking about the issues you would like to see the president address in his second term. i went to read you a bit from this.
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at 11:00 we should note speaker john boehner, the leader of the house will hold an on-camera press briefing. that is at 11:00 a.m. we will carry that on c-span and c-span radio. some discussion about what the republican position will be heading into those negotiations. of "theay's edition washington post."
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i went to. the to the front page story of -- i want to point you to the front page story of "usa today." again, that is john boehner talking about putting off some of the bigger deals until after the new year and when the new
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congress sets. we are talking about the next four years and what you like to see president obama address. vicki is from virginia on the republican line. caller: good morning. i would like to see a few things. maybe a flat tax. maybe they could agree on something like that. i cannot understand why the rich should pay more. i understand a lot of the deductions. it seems like the people who do not have to do not want anyone else to have it. if you have a sucker, why should you give me your sucker? it is yours? i think it will hurt the country by doing that. i agree with all of the women's issues. i am not against that. if it is for you, it is for you. partial birth abortions' -- it needs to be cut off at some
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point. it is very cruel. i would like to see a transparent president like he promised. i would like to see the blame game stop. he blamed bush for four years. who can he blamed for the next four years? i would like to see our military improve instead of in taking away from it. as far as the last democrat guy, i could not believe he was a democrat. i agree with what he said. we need to get our money back from everyone we loaned it to. it is crazy how we are giving in to other countries. there are a lot of things. i hope he changes and does what he promised in the first four years. host: vicki bringing up some military issues. the headline from the front page of "the new york times."
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there is a picture of the type of predator drone that was fired on. we are discussing your priorities for the second term. we will go to the independent line. caller: i want to say i am a series an american. neither candidate understood what is going on in the middle
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east because they are getting one biased israel view. i can tell you what is going on. i love president assad. i stand with them. there has always been peace there. the women wear jeans, they'd drive, they vote. it is more of a democracy and a lot of ways and here. host: what do you think policy should be regarding syria? 5000 people killed in the uprising. caller: those rebels are not syrian. they were planted there. it is really funny. when obama put troops into israel, i think he did all of this for reelection. i am relieved mitt romney did not get elected even though i did not vote for either. i think obama might do the right thing and cut ties with israel.
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host: we will go to a report actually on syrian president assad. this in "usa today." he said "i am not a puppet." we have a few minutes left on the first segment of "the
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washington journal." we will go to pete in rhode island on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i would like to see him focus on the economy. host: specifically what part? caller: let's go with the fiscal cliff coming up. my thoughts were my belief is, and i hope somebody calls and corrects me or you correct me, if the fiscal cliff is reached on january 1, the first thing to go would be the bust tax cuts. everything else will be phased in over time. we can let the tax cuts hit. it will then come to the table and negotiate everything else. do not paint a draconian picture of it, even though it is somewhat draconian. i think congress would sit down and negotiate a fair and proper tax code. they do that really want to go back to that. constituents will say they
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blocked everything for a second term. they are up for election. the election we just had spoke to a major. in this country, it is all about the taxes. host: would you be ok with a short-term bridge? caller: if you consider the fact it will not hit on january 1, everything went up. it stays-- it phases in overtime. host: what if they had a short- term bridge to deal with this at the beginning of next year or do you want it dealt with? caller: they need to deal with it here and now. it needs to be dealt with now. the first thing to go would be the tax cuts. as far as the economy itself, to boost the economy, i think somebody needs to work on a serious tax bill. we just had hurricane sandy on the east coast. there is a perfect example where
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if you put people to work, but all of our wires and power lines underground. they can build the economy. i think the republicans talk a good game. they found out, america is not the america of cleavers. this is a multiracial society, and it is only getting more. get in line, or we have seen the last of the republican party. host: thank you for the call from rhode island. a few other facebook comments this morning.
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we will go now to seth from oklahoma on the republican line. what are your priorities for the second time? caller: right now i am a server at the hili's chain. i see polls all the time before the presidential race. i do not make judgments. i can see an amount of people that i meet that have seen what obama has done for them. two people have college degrees and they cannot find a job. three people going to vacation all school and they cannot get in the -- they cannot get -- vocational school and they
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cannot get on at the air force base. the people who have no will -- they do not want to get better. they do not want to better themselves or their education. they are on the food stamps, the welfare, the obamacare. host: you want the president to continue his jobs focus from the previous four years and reform other programs? caller: newt gingrich, i did not vote for him in the primaries, but one thing he really focused on was if you're going to be on government assistance, you need to someone better your education, better your -- you do not want to stay on it. right now with obamacare and everything i see, not being judgmental but, stating what i see three people and friends, nobody wants to get better. it went to stay on it.
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-- they want to stay on it. if we could go to a better education or more -- have a goal to get off of government assistance. if you need it, be on it. clean towards getting off of it eventually. host: one other story i want to point out for you. this is from the washington post.
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i want to get in one more call on this opening segment. monti from arizona. what do you think the president should focus on? caller: i think after this last
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divisive presidential campaign, president obama's top priority should be focusing on the fact that about half of the country did not vote to re-elect him. there are a lot of priorities that need to be dealt with. they have a lot of attitudes and opinions on different things. he has stated he wants to work with the other party and across the aisle. i think he needs to take a real serious look and give the real serious consideration and not just give it lip service. host: 2 was so much for the call. that will wrap up the first segment of "the washington journal." of next we will have red barnes. later, the policy director of latino elected officials to
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discuss the your role of latinos in campaign 2012. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> is there is a mandate in yesterday's results it is for us to find a way to work together to the challenges we face together as a nation. my message is not one of confrontation but of conviction. in the weeks and months ahead with a series of tremendous challenges and great opportunity. >> the american people want us to work together.
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democrats want us to work together. they want a balanced approach to everything, but especially the situation we have dealing with the huge deficit and taxes are a part of that. >> the newly elected congress starts electedin january but the current still has work to do with what is typically referred to as a lame-duck session. work is pending on the fiscal cliff, raising the debt ceiling, and by how much, and possible cuts to domestic and military spending, also known as sequestration. >> intensely journalistic. unless you get out and look at what is going gone these days,
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you're going to miss the things influencing yourself and everybody else. >> tom wolfe is live from the opening night at miami but fair international. he will discuss "back to blood" and it's take on the city of miami. sunday at 6:00 eastern on "book tv" on c-span 2. removed fromays election day, fred barnes joins us for a look back at campaign 2012 and the future of the republican party. thank you for being here. what went wrong for mitt romney? why did he lose a race that so many thought coming into the election was his to win? guest: including me. this was more of a race i have to say that obama won by having such a strong campaign rather than romney losing. obama may have been the only
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democratic candidate running on a record of a weak economy and debt crisis that we face and still win. yet, he did. they did very many things that were right. you can point to a couple of things with mitt romney. he may not have been the perfect candidate for 2012 given his corporate turnaround background, secondly, he did not get something republicans have counted on and that is the white working-class voters. in states like ohio, the ads attacking mayor romney as a corporate raider and buccaneer that went on for many months put on by the obama campaign seemed to work. the white working-class vote did not turn out for mitt romney in the numbers he needed. host: you had a piece yesterday,
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"the survivor in chief." you know to that they expose the myth of the enthusiastic democratic voter. guest: it was a myth i subscribe to for a while. i am sure you read about this over and over again. the democratic voters were dispirited and they were not feeling enthusiastic about the campaign. it was the conservatives and republicans fired up and getting ready to go. the notion was, he would have this surge of republican voters and a depressed democratic turnout. there was a pretty good turn out of republican voters, but there was a surge of democratic voters. it was amazing how well obama did at putting together the coalition that elected him in 2008. the idea of a lack of enthusiasm would keep them from voting did not happen. it turned out to be a myth.
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if you are in into ziad voter or unenthusiastic voter, you only get one vote. >> was there and over confidence born from how well republicans did in the midterm elections? guest: there was an expectation that republicans really had a good chance of ousting president obama. that became harder to expect as we got really deeper into the campaign, particularly this fall. it was boosted again by his performance in the first debate. the truth is, i would not say there was ever over confidence that was going to happen. host: we are talking to fred barnes. you can join in with questions and comments. the phone numbers are on the screen for you to start calling in now. i want to take you to this editorial in "the baltimore
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sun." the headline is "diversity and the gop." guest: when you lose 50% to 48%, i would not call that a lopsided loss. it was a pretty close election. mitt romney lost by 2.5 million of votes. that is not a squeaker, but it is not lopsided either. i think there are two birds that are very important that republicans have not done well in. the obvious one is hispanics. host: 71% of hispanics for obama. guest: when you go from getting 44% of the hispanic vote to 31% at john mccain in got to 27%
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that mitt romney got, that is a bad situation for republicans. when you have the group of growing faster than any other group as part of the electorate and you are shrinking in your share of the vote, that is a big problem. this is one republicans are going to have to deal with. the other groups -- obama did not do well among the white women. the number is a little distorted because so many are hispanic women. an african-american woman that may be voting for the democrats for other reasons. host: exit polls show that female voters went 55% to 45%. guest: we have a gender gap a denture every election except for 2010. and republicans came out even. in presidential elections they have not done well. 11 points is a lot. we will have to think about
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doing better. i think you do better when you have better candidates. host: talk about the third part of the editorial, the young voters. guest: when they get older, they become more conservative. i do not mean to be dismissive about that. one of the surprises about the obama campaign was how well they turned out the young vote. i think it was almost the same share of the electorate as it was in 2008. i did not think that was going to happen, and yet it did. republicans are going to have to think more about how they are going to get the vote. here is another place where i think republicans really need to do better. it used to be a place where they did very well. that is the suburbs. obama did extremely well in the suburbs. i have lived in the suburbs across the potomac river. i grew up in arlington. those are inner suburbs.
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they have become very democratic. a republican is not going to windows. -- a republican is not going to win those. as you get further out, that becomes the republican heartland. he when virginia if you get over 40% of fairfax county. romney got 39%. in the exurbs where republicans have done so well up until they have had to face obama twice obamain loudoun county, 25 miles outside of washington, d.c., obama got 52%. he got 57% in prince william county. republican governors, the governor who was elected bob mcdonnell in 2009, one of those areas. mitt romney and john mccain did
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very poorly. the suburbs is a place where republicans are going to have to do better. host: you have used the word turn out. is the democratic turnout operation simply better than the republican operation? guest: i think you had it right. it is the obama turn out. host: does that go away? republicans guest: can hope so. i am sure the democratic party has figured out, we have to repeat this. we have seen what the obama camping can do. we are going to do it again. republicans, they had a much better effort by the party. i had a turnout party by conservative groups that made millions of calls. it did not produce what they hoped it would. they got a lot of voters out, but obviously not enough. host: i want to take you to a clip of a conservative writer talking about what needs to happen with the republican
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party. [video clip] >> the republican national chairman, mitch mcconnell, john boehner, and other republican leaders behind the epic election failure of 2012 should be replaced with leaders more in tune with the conservative base of the republican party. likewise, established republican consultants establishedkarl rove, romney campaign senior advisers, and pollsters should never be hired to run or consult on a national campaign again. nobody would give a dime to the ineffective super pacs like american crossroads. the loss was the death rattle of the establishment republican party. the disaster of 2012 signals the beginning of the battle to take
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over the republican party and the opportunity to establish the gop as the party of small government, constitutional conservative. host: do you agree with that assessment? guest: not at all. k i do karl rove, the pollster for the romney campaign, and all the others he listed, the republican national chairman -- they are not the problem. the truth is, while i think the tea party is a great addition to the party, the candidates who were truly identified as tea party candidates in 2010 and 2012 lost in many cases. i do not think it was a problem the republican candidates were inadequately conservative, and they were in many cases not good candidates. it helps to have good candidates, people who can run graces.
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not those who can flub an abortion issue. and by stumbling on the abortion issue and the idea of remain, they -- and rape, they lost those races. host: the stat on the senate races of the 23 democratic seats in play republicans won one and the party further managed to lose three more of its own seats and the chamber, not one democratic incumbent lost a seat. one calls it the g.o.p.'s epic senate fail. >> i don't know about epic, but it certainly was a fail. host: was john cornyn to blame on this? guest: he is not to blame but he will get a lot of the blame.
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i mean, he didn't put words in the mouth of todd about women who had been raped and in indiana when he flubbed the same issue. so he is not really the problem but the guy at the head of the senate republican campaign committee. so he is going to take both the swings and the arrows. host: randy, you're on with fred barnes. caller: good morning mr. barnes. ereally don't want the republican to be in -- never mentioned the republican party coming to the black vote or the asian vote. 2014 is a -- republicans will work with barack obama because they want to be elected again,
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because this country cannot stay this way. host: fred barnes? guest: i agree with that, that republicans are going to work with president obama and will he have to work with them. even ronald regan had the iran contra scandal and bill clinton did have impeachment. so they are really tough and in your administration your best people, your first team you have on your staff and in cabinet positions in your first term, many of them go away in your second term so it's one where democrats and republicans are going to have to come together especially on the fiscal issue. we know what will happen. we will have huge spending cuts in defense and it will go into
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effect january 1 or the bush tax cuts will expire as of january is so they will have to do one of two things, either have a stopgap measure and let the next congress and president obama work out something over the entire year of 2013, tax reform measure and so on or they are going to have to act in the lame duck session. this is not ducking the issue but knocking it over to the new congress that had just been elected and the president who was re-elected and let them work it out in a very conference hence i way in 2013. host: mr. barnes the lopsided percentage african-americans 93%. what's the g.o.p. plan to reach out to them like latinas and women? >> the g.o.p. has had plans to
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reachout that have been utter failures. the best thing they won't have to face barack obama again. republicans are the conservative party and that's not going to change. i think what they need to do and this was an unimportant to election in a couple of ways. they need to elect more african-american republicans and a couple of them -- a big hope was a woman named mia love who was the mayor of a town, african-american mormon and they hoped she would win and she lost. in utah. and i would say mathison is one of the most conservative democrats in congress, and ran a great race and won and then allen west, a republican in florida is behind. it's going to be tough for him
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to win because they are not threw counting ballots. but that's one of the things they need to do is have more african-american candidates and have them win. host: republicans needing blacks and latinas in the party leadership not merely a voting block to be captured and used? >> yes. and they have done much better with hispanics than -- well, certainly didn't show in the election but in the house j.c. watts from oklahoma but indeed they need to do that. host: we'll go to joanne on the republican line from rancho, california. caller: fred, don't you think since 2010 was such a big victory, everything of concern was of obama care and that
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didn't seem to be brought up in the campaign so much probably because of massachusetts. but i think he still could have used concerns about that, particularly for religious liberty which is very important to hispanics and asians, which we lost big. i don't know if it's because of what john roberts did which was devastating, because i do think there's a lot of charity and hidden taxes in obama care that people are not aware of and in the next four years we know the president can use executive orders and i think a huge decisive victory. guest: when you get to a question i'm going to agree with you. i think you're right about obama care. correct me if i'm wrong on this. i think the exit poll showed by a narrow margin most wanted to change or repeal obama care.
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and it wasn't sufficiently hammered away. that by republicans in 2012. they were advised over and over again, particularly people writing for the weekly standard or -- yet it became a secondary issue for the romney campaign for one which decided the only issue that really mattered was the economy and he would focus on that and obama care would take second place and it did or third place or maybe fourth place. host: a couple exit polls on the 2010 health care law that came in, what should happen in 2010 to the health care the law 26% according to exit polls said it should be expanded. 18% said leave it as is and 24% repeal some of it and 25% says repeal all of that. >> it adds up to 44% to expand
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it or keep it as it is. i wouldn't call that a ringing endorsement of obama care, and but we'll see and there are some republican governors who will have to decide now what they are going to do. this was one thing that was so clearly at stake in the 2012 election. are we going to have obama care? we're not. is it going to be implemented and installed and be there sflever well, you can decide that by voting for or against obama and obama won. host: good morning, connie. caller: good morning, and good morning fred. there is nothing wrong with the republican party. it is -- we lost this election by just a tiny bit. we should keep our values. hang on to our values.
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and the most important thing -- well, obama is getting ready to take off and run to all these countries giving his nation-building speeches and giving his family a vacation and all this and that, but there's only one nation that we should be nation-building with, and that's israel. because israel -- israel is -- that's god's chosen land. the jews are god's chosen people. host: ok, connie, let's give fred barnes a chance to comment. guest: well, i mean that was an issue between romney who was much more pro israel though publicly in particular. we'll see how that turns out. i personally don't begrudge him
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a vacation after the campaign, like to take one myself. but there was another part -- oh, yeah. what she said in the beginning about the republican party. is it really in deep trouble? i don't think so. obviously hispanics are a problem. younger senators and governors, they have 30 governors who are extremely important, 30 out of 50. like bob mcdonald in virginia and bobby jindal and scott walker in wisconsin and so on. republicans actually -- romney actually won i believe the middle class. if you have the middle class as people who make between $50,000 a year and $100,000 a year, romney won that group narrowly. the middle class is up for grabs but romney did well
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enough there but just not well enough to win. host: on the question of what the republican party needs to do, charles route hammer writes in today's "washington post," the company doesn't need two liberal parties. yes, the country needs to weed out morons who talk about rape that way but the -- agree with that statement? guest: that's well-written. i'd like to say. i know charles and -- when you -- are you pro life or pro choice and pro life? but got a majority. the republican party is going to continue to be the pro life
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party. the one in missouri and the one in indiana were peculiar and if you're a pro-life republican who can't discuss the issue in a way charles says is delicate and sensible, then you're going to hurt yourself. but those are aberrations. those two republicans running in missouri and indiana. host: on the republican line, good morning, d.j. caller: hello. i want to know why it is that the republicans are so one-sided and really don't look into minorities like they should. you say they do, but i believe they try to hide what they really think and hold it to themselves because you know no one can really go into countries and analyze what they say about anything. you saw the video they had on
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mitt romney they had about 47% and msnbc and i don't agree with it, and i feel like the stuff he was saying behind closed doors, with the republicans were really thinking and what he said in public, nobody is really going to say what they really think on national tv in front of millions of people. i want to know why -- guest: i think you get fletch public what republicans really believe in. the 47% was not only a dumb statement by romney but an inaccurate one. because it includes people on social security or retirement so the idea that somehow 47% of the population because they do get something from the
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government so therefore they are democratic voters is not true. but in truth, i think say look republicans are conservative and talk about it and some don't do it as well but i think what you see is what you get. that's what you got from ronlt regan and both bush presidents and who is more republican than oncane for republicans in 2008? and i think you really heard from mitt romney what he really believes. host: on twitter, republicans need to anchor their campaigns on liberty and individual responsibility to educate the voter on america's heritage. now to elizabeth. you're on with fred barnes. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. where is union grove? caller: where is union grove? guest: yes.
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caller: right outside of alabama. guest: ok. spoir. go ahead. caller: well, i think obama needs to get his priorities in order instead of going out of country right now. he needs to stay in the united states and address the libya and benghazi attacks where we lost four outstanding americans. he needs to go to the east coast and take care of the fema things that people are not getting help and now it's snowing on them so they are in even more distress than they were and i think they should put off going outside of the country and address what he needs to address first. >> well, i think you are right about it but a lot of things are forced on him right now.
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the spending and debt and another vote will be coming up early next year on the another debt limit increase. look, he is going to have to deal with those and there will be some important testimony when the general who was in charge of i think the african command in the u.s. military will testify before some committee in congress. then we're going to learn a lot more. because the whole benghazi issue is not going to go away and the president is i think going to have a different set of priorities, because they are going to be forced on him. the president has basically ducked the entitlement issue for his first term. he is going to have to deal with that. because it won't go away and medicare and medicaid from spiraling out of criminal -- out of control fiscal and these are the things he will have to deal with whether he likes it
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or not and he's obviously reconciled to dealing with them. host: a recent column in "the new york times" after the election, john waver. want to read you his statement. he says we can become a party of -- to do latter we have to fix our hispanic problem as quickly as possible. we've got to accept science and start -- start calling out things that are just not true and not tolerating the intolerable. host: he referred to the climate change issue. guest: that's a great dispute among scientists. whether the projections of the climate catastrophe later this century are going to happen or not, i don't think the science,
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while some of the global warming people are telling you the science people are excited, we'll find out. i think it's a debatable issue. host: do you think it's a bigger issue the president takes up after hurricane sandy? guest: well, he suggested he might but i doubt -- john, given the issues that are on his table right now, if he takes it up, it's going to be leitner his second term. host: on twitter, mr. barnes, will jeb bush run in 2016? >> -- guest: i thought he would run in 2012. he has incredible experience dealing with hurricanes and other emergencies in florida.
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he's a likable guy. he appeals to both mod rats and conservatives. he will be what in his early 60's if he plans to run? i hope he would run and would be an extremely attractive candidate. paul ryan who is back in the house of representatives because he was re-elected to his house seat while he lost the vice president election. it's a very strong bench. i'd have to say, jeb bush is a part of it, and i would have him on the part of the bench where you're the first stout come in. host: -- guest: you can argue they are a
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younger generation. some are in their 40's like ryan and others a generation that hadn't arrived at the presidential level. i didn't agree with that. but they all decided not to run for the white house. host: let's go to john from near washington d.c. on the independent line, you're on with fred barnes of the "weekly standard." caller: bob. yes, you said that paul ryan is a good candidate for the future? the guy couldn't even tell the truth about his marathon run, and then he takes a tour of a soup kitchen, and he cleans up after the place is closed. romney, i mean, my god the guy lied throughout campaign, and you would actually support a
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guy who lies to the american people about jobs going to china with the jeep? host: how did paul ryan do on the campaign trail? guest: well, i thought he did extremely well and i thought he flubbed that news about the marathon but if he did it in the time he said he would be on a marathon-running circuit. that was just a mistake. he hadn't run it in about is 1 -- in about 11-12 years. i know paul ryan. paul ryan is not a liar. and with mitt romney, the whole question about the jeeps, there's a dispute whether chrysler, which owns jeeps jeep is going to have to go to italy. there's a story about that. on the china issue overall for romney, that was an issue that
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didn't work. there are issues that poll well, but when you try to rely on them in a campaign, they just don't get you any votes. i think china is one of them. host: we'll go to jim on the republican line. you're on with fred barnes of the "weekly standard." caller: hi. i was going to say i believe what the lady on the republican line said earlier. that republicans don't need to change. we need the conservative stand, and the biggest problem is that i believe the country is getting to the point that they are so dependant on the handouts of the government that that's what they are looking for. they are looking for a liberal, somebody that's willing to give them anything they want.
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guest: john, i have to say -- it is john? caller: jim. guest: i have to disagree with that. the republicans won the house overwhelmingly and botched a few senate seats but it was a great republican and conservative year. that was only two years ago. i still think we have a center-right country. although after this election it looks more toward the center than right but indeed there are probably a lot of people getting things from the government but some are military and so i wouldn't be pessimistic at all. i mean, right now at this moment, they certainly -- it's a moment for republicans. that always happens when you lose an election. but the media, they have done this, the democrats, too,.
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the -- the media immediately says that oh, this party, it's got an identity crisis and it's got to self-exam. it needs self-examination and so on. it doesn't need much of that. the republicans have some problems. we know what they are and we better deal with them. the hispanics being one and suburbs being one. sometimes in senate races you just need people that are better at politics, better at running for office. host: dorothy on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, fred. guest: hi. caller: you know, fred, there's nothing really wrong with the republican party and the things you all stand for, because i am pro life as well. but what you all need to do, because we need two vyible parties. we really do, and i want to see
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that in the republican party, but you all have really got to take a second look at -- and let me finish, because i'm not going to say anything bad but rush limbaugh, laura ingraham and fox news, they need calm down. because they are putting you in a box. so you can't talk to the latinos, the blacks. if they would stop and let's see some ideas. i want positive. it's hard to vote for republicans when you got these people aalienating republicans because they make it seem like it's a bunch of hate groups. guest: rush limbaugh and laura ingraham are going to continue. they have an audience and that's just one of the things that's important to
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conservatives are these people on talk radio. can they alienate folks? i'm sure they can. are they going to go away? no. i certainly can't tell rush limbaugh to go off the air. and if i could, i wouldn't anyway. i think fox news is different. i've been on fox news since it began in 1996. fox news, most of its shows are news shows. i know most of the reporters there. i don't know what their views are. i don't know whether they are conservative or democrats and i don't know what their real political views are. but i know they are good reporters. then there are shows that are clearly conservative shows. bill o'reilly, shawn hannity. greta van susteren is on after those two.
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she a conservative? i don't think so. and i don't think she has a right-wing show. so i wouldn't put those in the same category as other talk show hosts. >> caller: i agree somewhat with him but when people hear a republican candidate so rush or somebody says something crazy, and i like some of fox news but when they say these crazy things and say a reporter comes up and -- candidate, i would like for you all to have more ideas. you have good ideas, but no one knows what they are. let me give you this little advice and then i'll -- and
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this is coming from a black woman. instead of saying something negative all the time, come with an idea. instead of saying this, say this is what we can do and this is how it can make your life better. host: fred? guest: i agree. politicians in general could. people complain about negative ads. but there's a reason why they are so prevalent on television. they tend to work. think of the negative ads attacking mitt romney. it's been reported that the obama campaign spent $100 million on these ads between late spring and summer. and they worked. that's why we see so many of them. these are the ads demonizing
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romney as a cooperate buccaneer. so we will continue to see negative campaign ads in the future. host: we want to ask the same question we asked our viewers. what should the president be focusing on in the second material? -- in the second term? what do you think he needs to address? >> well, obviously, the economy and then the whole fiscal crisis issue involving taxes and the sequester that would really cut in not only to social spending but particularly into defense spending. and look, he is not going to be able to avoid that. we do have a sluggish economy. i happen to think obama's policies have been wrong. and if he provided more e freedom of investment.
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there's money sitting on the sidelines that needs to be invested but i would hope the president would move in a more free market direction, providing incentives to people investing and who would invest in economic shings. i don't expect it. and in the long run, though. immigration is a huge issue. it's got to be dealt with. i -- people like john mccain, jon kyl, the arizona senator. i think that has to come a little later. host: fred barnes, "weekly standard," appreciate you coming on. up next, max sevilla, the policy director of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. later, david lauter of the los
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angeles times -- the "los angeles times." >> i need some help over here. >> can you tried to give up without anybody knowing -- did he try to get up without anybody knowing?
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>> where is sgt. yates today? >> we followed him after this airplane ride for many months. he ended up entering himself into a program at walter reed, where they ended up using acupuncture, meditation, other techniques to wean him off of all the drugs he was on. through this program, he was able to walked out of all to read -- out of walter reed and his own two feet. i commend the military for allowing us to tell the story, the good and bad, and for recognizing his problem. by recognizing there is this problem of over-medication, and that they are looking for outside-of-the-box ideas on how to fix it. that is the whole thesis of the
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film. the medics is -- the idea is that the status quo isn't working. >> more with heineman on sunday night's "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: according to exit polling from tuesday, latino turnout was at an all-time high. president obama received 71% of support from the latino community. to discuss the role of the latino vote in elections 2012, we are joined by max sevilla of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. first, talk about the factors that drove the latino vote buying in this election. how much of this uptick on tuesday was simple demographic changes? how much was issue motivation and turnout efforts? guest: thank you for having me today.
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absolutely, latino community made the election -- the difference in this election. they decided the reelection of president obama and the majority of the senate and a number of house seats. we saw the importance of the latino vote on the state level. the latino vote was historic. over 10% of the electric boat was -- electoral vote was from the latino community. that is historic, double digits. more than 13 million latinos voted. we know the numbers were decisive. how the latino vote breaks in terms of party association, that is really what is striking. the latino community is the most independent of all voting blocs. they were 71% to 75% in favor of obama. host: is the chart -- hear is the chart. -- here is the chart. it was well lowest showing since
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president bauble -- since presidential candidate bob dole. was this president obama winning the latino vote? or was it mitt romney losing the latino vote? guest: i think it was both. there was a failure to get -- to get immigration reform down during his first term. he did not accomplish it. that was a big disappointment. the other thing is the fact that the number of deportations, immigrant deportations, was a record high during his first term. he deported almost twice as many immigrants as the first bush administration did. about 600,000 per year.
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we see the economic downturn has hit the latino community disproportionately. currently, the unemployment rate for the general community is approximately 7.8%. yet it is close to 10% for latinos. there is a lot the president has to do in his second term. governor romney took certain positions, particularly in the primary, that really went against the latino community, things like self-deportation. there were a lot of things that he and the republican party have to amend, have to change in order to get a larger share of the latino vote. host: if you want to join in to this conversation with max sevilla, call us. 202-585-3880 -- democrats.
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202-585-3881 -- republicans. guest: we have a membership of latino-elected officials from all across the country, at all levels of government. we also are on the ground, in the neighborhoods, doing voter registration. we do voter protection during the election. we do assistance with regards to naturalization. at the same time, we also do advocacy. i am the chief lobbyist for the organization in washington, d.c., on four issues in particular -- voting rights, immigration reform, naturalization, and the census. having good data on the latino community, challenges and potential, it is very important for the future. host: you talked about what mitt romney did in this campaign that affected the latino vote. this comes from "usa today." the director of research at the center for immigration studies rights that immigration views
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did not cost from the during this campaign. he writes -- your response? guest: their candidates that can win despite the latino vote -- and there are candidates that can win despite the latino vote. immigration was not a priority for the latino community. when they were polled before the election, they recognized -- they said unemployment, the economy was the number-one issue, as was for all americans. with regards to immigration, it
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goes to the heart of the community. it is that community feeling, which i think is so special with latinos. the tone that the romney campaign and the party used during this election, i did that is what pulled many latino voters from supporting republican candidates on the republican -- and the republican candidate for president. things like self-deportation were promoted. romney said that arizona and alabama were a model for state action on immigration. not really went to the heart of the latino community, which agrees -- about 65% of latinos know someone that is in the united states in a manner that is on documented. undocumented. the discussion is also important
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to the porter rican -- puerto rican and dominican-american community. host: i wanted it to some comments that senator harry reid said on the possibility of congress passing immigration reform. [video clip] >> we have tried, i have tried, i have spent more time on immigration teed of congress ago than any other administration. it is interesting what has happened. kennedy and mccain led that. mccain has not been with us on immigration reform. the only thing we need to get immigration reform done is a few republican votes. i get 90% of the democrats. couldn't we get a few of the republicans? it is high on my list. we are going to have some votes on it. if the republicans continue, it is that there peril -- it is at
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their peril. not for political reasons, but because it is the wrong thing to do. the system is broken and needs to be fixed. host: do you agree with senator reed's -- reid's comments? guest: for any politician, it is at their peril not to work on immigration reform. it is important to the country. the business community wants immigration reform. over 60% of americans polled at the exit polls say they want immigration reform. the current system we have is broken. it is costing -- causing situations that are unamerican, that did not go with the values and principles we espouse as a nation. host: let's take some calls for max sevilla of naleao.
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good morning. caller: first of all, i want to say that hispanic-- i am an african-american in my mid-50's. i have probably been through more racism, bigotry and discrimination in the first 25 years of my life than any white person or hispanic probably has ever had to go through. first of all, i want to say that they do deserve to get the very best that this country has to offer. they deserved it. when you get republicans going around saying that all the what is christophe, that is a -- all they want is free stuff, that is a lie. they can grow in a positive way. they are going to help this country. when i am listening to a lie, the only thing the republicans have to talk about is that they should have worked harder on getting the latino vote. of course african-americans
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voted 92% against them. you know what that came from? that came from experiences of centuries of being treated the way that we have been treated. let's not forget now, if it weren't for white americans who believed in equality for all people and african americans who fought the good fight, with the help of them, we would not be seeing hispanics and other minorities coming over here at the rate that they are. but, let me just say again, african-americans do not want anybody to have to go through what they have gone through. host: max sevilla, what do republicans need to do to reach out to the latino community? guest: i think that -- thank you for your comments. i believe that it is really a matter of policy. they need to a spouse, they need to support -- to espouse,
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they need to support communities that are important to minority people. these issues having to do with the economy, unemployment, education reform, health care, immigration. the tone that is used, particularly by elected officials, needs to be responsible. these are human issues, these are human -- civil-rights issues. these are important not just to the latino community, minority -- minority communities, but to the future of this nation. if we want a stronger america, we need to deal with some of the hardest issues impacting all communities. host: let me get your response to this week from alabama. "once obama -- tweet from alabama. "wants obama passes, for now -- from burton's of immigration reform, latinos will be a reliable voting block for democrats for generations to
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come.: guest: it would be a great thing to see a commitment from president obama to get it done. he is not the sole player in getting comprehensive immigration reform done. the senate needs to participate. then the house, which is currently controlled by the republicans, also needs to be a part of it and get it done. also in, what we need are responsible players -- ultimately, what we need are responsible players with regards to immigration reform. host: going back to the earlier caller and the experience of african-americans, hall writes, "is there any interest in the latino community in building coalitions with other ethnic minorities, blacks, and asians? -- asians?" guest: absolutely. a couple of weeks before the election, we put out a report
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where we projected that approximately 219,000 latinos will be deterred from voting or have their vote made more difficult. that was for just 2012. the issue remains in play. still very important to the latino community. the latinos came out in droves to vote and decide the election. there were too-strick voter -- too-strict voter-id regulations that came into play. hundreds of thousands of latinos could be impacted by voter protection, voter-restricting loaws that could come into play between now and the next election. host: let's go to mobile, alabama, on our republican line.
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caller: good morning. i hear all these things, these lofty ideas for jobs -- american values, without ever telling them what american values are. anybody coming into this country should -- to find out what american values are -- first, learn the language, then learn how to read it, then get educated, then voted. -- vote. host: what are a few of those american values that you think folks need to know? caller: i think they need to know that we are a democratic republic, not just the democratic. democratics usually lead to dictators. there has not been a dictator in the last 100 years that did not come in with a democrat vote.
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i think we need to learn the issues that are going on and listen to things more than just the floury -- flowery things people say, and look at what they really want to do. host: your response? guest: if i may take for a minute -- talk for a minute about what i believe american values are, and the reason the latino community espouses them. i believe that freedom, liberty, patriotism. latinos are over represented in the american u.s. forces, the military forces. freedom of speech, freedom of religion. i think the caller was talking about democracy, democratic forms of government. over 13 million latinos, about 10% of the electorate, in 2012 -- 10% of the electorate in 2012
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was latino. that is unique. it is the latino community that illustrates how great of a nation we are. it is a new work community -- a newer community. ost: let's go to jordan from port st. lucie, florida. caller: why do your groups always have to represent special interests? what can we not unite as a country? why do we always have to define ourselves -- divide ourselves? martin luther king said it best, we should judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or where the came from -- i added the last part. it is real simple. it is about whether you want to come to the country legally and played by the rules, or whether you want to come to the country illegally and come in the back door. why is it races that we are accepting people from latin
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america -- why is it racist that we are accepting people from latin america? all the people from asia, europe, who are waiting in line, waiting in line for years, paying thousands of dollars to lawyers to get here -- to me, that is the racism right there. why are we just excepting latinos? what do you call yourself latinos? you are americans. if you get here legally, you are americans. host: respond. guest: we are an organization that has a membership of latino elected officials. that is part of the mission. we believe that, by greater participation of latinos and hispanics in the civic and political process of united states, we are a better nation. i believe there is nothing wrong with that. i actually think that, like i said, we're better for it. in terms of immigration reform,
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we are talking about a broken system that needs to be reformed. the de facto situation, where there are 12 million to 13 million undocumented immigrants in the united states, something needs to be done about it. we agree there needs to be a process, where the immigrant pays a fine, goes to the back of the line, a real process. because of it, we will be a greater, more diverse nation. host: let's go to jackson, mississippi, on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i'm very glad i got through. i'm very interested in what you are talking about. i am just elated that this gentleman is on and speaking of the hispanic people. i think they are doing a great job. they come here to work. their values are no different
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than american values. they want family. they want to take care of their kids. they want their kids educated. they want their children to be able to work in this society just like everybody in america. everybody in america huckster remember there -- america house to remember their ancestors came here for the same reasons -- everybody in america has to remember that their ancestors came here for the same reasons. the gentleman that was on before that was talking about we need to learn our values -- we have not learned our own values yet. host: max sevilla? guest: i take great pride in the fact we are upright -- a nation of immigrants. we are a melting pot. through our diversity, we have a new and interesting for festive -- an interesting perspectives -- we have
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-- we have new and interesting perspectives. we're talking about family closeness. many immigrants have made the move because of the welfare of their families, and better education, work opportunities. people are hard working, they are loving. that only adds to the american community. host: this issue was brought up in this column today. there is a perception among republicans that they can win back the latino community because latinos are more socially conservative, and therefore a more natural fit for the republican party. is that an accurate fit? guest: it is a complex community. there may be some commonality is based on religion and some other perspectives. it is really all about, my perspective, policies, interest, positions taken.
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when we started the program, we talked about how the support of the latino community gave to president obama was really a un precedented. we would have to go back to 1996 to see that kind of strong support for one party. if we think back to 1996, what was going on was prop 187 in california, which so alienated latinos and drove them to the democratic party. president clinton was against prop 187. when latinos organized and participated in the process, they supported the democratic candidate. i think that there is -- unless the republican party comprehensively looks at what the latino community -- disavows such positions as the arizona immigration law or alabama, laws supporting things -- issues such
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as self-deportation -- self-deportation is a great example of the volumes and principles -- of the american values and principles we were talking about. the idea that we would make the life of an individual and family so miserable that the person would, on his or her own, decide to remove themselves from the country where they are at, where they have found refuge. that is not american values. that is heartless and cruel. that is the sort of position that the republican party needs to move away from in order to get more latino voters to support them. host: we go now to john from locust grove, georgia, on our republican line. caller: i want to ask a question. a doctor at north carolina
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university said latinos would be the perfect loading base for democrats because they are working -- perfect voting base for democrats because they are working poor. then you have the black panthers putting out $1 million contracts -- a murder contract, and nothing is done about it. then you have a latino house of representatives running out like little girls -- host: we will go now to troy from michigan on the independent line. you are on with max sevilla. caller: this is troy. just thinking about the latinos -- the mexican americans coming into the united states.
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i worked with the mexican- americans. the cubans. when theey -- they first come into america. we were trying to recruit guys to organize them into the union. i'm glad to see the support they have gave obama. the lifestyle of breaking away from the black community -- that is the scary part about the mexican-americans. what are they going to do once they get full citizenship in this country? guest: if i may respond to the last two questions. the latino community is really the ultimate independent community. surveys show that approximately 45% support the democratic
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party. about 25% support the republican party. the remaining 25% to 30% is truly independent. if we go back through the past couple of decades, we see that bill clinton -- president clinton got great support from the latino community in 1996. if we look at 2000 and 2004, president bush got about 40%. he got about 44% in his reelection. then we get to president obama, who got about 69% initially of the latino vote, now about 71% to 75%. you see how support from latino voters, the latino community can go anywhere from 44% for republican to 25% for
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republican -- from 44% for a republican to 25% for a re -- republican. i think the republican party in this election and governor romney, in running for president, failed to communicate to the latino community that the positions that he and his party espouse or to the best interest of the community and the nation. that is where the opportunity lies. host:. the chart showing the latino vote from 1980 -- host: here is the chart showing the latino vote from 1980 to the 2012 election. what was he doing right with the latino community in that election? guest: when he first came off a

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